More than half a billion people worldwide use professional social online networks such as LinkedIn. The objective of this DFG-funded project is to learn more about the positive effects social networking use provides for knowledge workers.
Innovative technologies based on artificial intelligence enable organizations to increasingly communicate with their consumers in an automated way. This project investigates how users perceive interactions with automated agents, including dialog systems ("chatbots"), but also bots that disseminate information on social media platforms. The overall question to be answered is to what extent factors such as human-like characteristics and communicative behaviour of the agent influence the acceptance of the interaction and the performance of the users.
AI-based voice assistants have spread rapidly and are playing an increasingly important role in the everyday lives of users. Owners can access a wide range of applications via voice. The assistants are also used for information search and thus provide an alternative to conventional screen-based search engines. The project is dedicated to the question of how voice assistants affect the search for and the evaluation of information.
Different individuals favor different notions of fairness. This PhD project therefore delves into how egocentric biases affect judgments of algorithmic fairness, an issue that often goes unnoticed in the discussion of AI discrimination cases. By understanding the influence of biases on fairness assessments, this project offers insights into improving AI decision-making in diverse domains.
The utilization of AI-powered voice assistants (VAs) has recently become more prevalent as an emerging digital technology that aids users in their daily activities, leading also to the emergence of various forms of communication with users beyond simple commands. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how people perceive and relate to disembodied, intelligent and voice-assisted technologies in communication. Given that a significant part of communication with these virtual actors revolves around information, factors such as the credibility and perceived intelligence of the source have become more important.
The video-sharing platform YouTube is meanwhile the 2nd largest search engine. “How to…” videos can be found for almost any topic – ranging from make-up tips over solutions for software problems to reparing washing machines. These videos can provide an easy and cheap access to learning opportunities for everybody. How frequently are they used for informal learning and which role does the instructor play?
Users of and other agents in social media (e.g., firms, institutions, and friends) play an increasingly important role as sources of information in digital societies. This information may include knowledge that leads to moral and normative decisions. In the scope of this present project, it will be explored how social media information may affect users‘ moral foundations and consequently their ethical decision-making. Another focus is to examine the role different psychological processes play in fostering or interfering with these potential relations between moral foundations and ethical decision-making.
Scientific discourse is vital to make informed decisions about pressing societal issues. Especially in times of crisis, risks arise from over-simplification, generalization, and instrumentalization of scientific knowledge. The „NewOrder“ project will examine the changing knowledge order of the digital society, in particular, motivated through the increasingly controversial discourse about science in online news and social media.
This PhD project studies the behaviors of social bots, i.e., social media accounts controlled by software or algorithms rather than humans, in online science communication, especially their interactions with human accounts, and the effect of these behaviors: what kind of content are social bots more likely to (re-)post? How and to what extent does social bot activity influence the public perception of science? And how could human users detect social bots to avoid their influence?
Crises are frequent in sport, be they doping or poor performance. How do such crises influence confidence in athletes and ultimately the demand for sporting events? Most professional athletes and teams now have profiles on social media such as Facebook or Instagram. Do these more direct interactions with athletes (comments, likes) lead to a stronger bond that can mitigate the negative effects of a crisis?
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has drastically changed the lives of many people, causing uncertainty, stress and anxiety. This project investigates how people use social media, podcasts, news and entertainment to cope with these feelings. Additionally, we focus on how media use is related to successful coping and how media use is related to knowledge and preventive behavior.
With the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many meetings in personal, educational, and professional contexts have been moved to the virtual realm. In a series of experiments and survey studies, this project aims at identifying and better understanding both effects and success factors of virtual meetings. One primary focus of the investigations is individual camera use and its positive and negative effects.
High mobility and frequent moves pose a challenge for friendships. How do groups of friends who live in different places stay connected? Existing media such as WhatsApp or Zoom provide limited opportunities to feel close to one's own friends, while still requiring the users' attention. In the VREUNDE project, hybrid tools are to be created with which groups of friends can perform their social activities even over distance and thus create a feeling of connectedness as a group.
